Auto Tune The News

In case you haven’t seen these, you probably will soon. I think I first heard of these on Kottke…

Pretty funny

William Shatner reading Sarah Palin’s resignation speech as a beat poem, on The Tonight Show. Sorry about the ad…

I wasn’t able to embed the video, so this is the link to it

The Chomsky Show

Going to keep trying..

Been a while, and I’m sure that if anyone reads this it will be totally by accident, as the past few months haven’t given anyone reason to return. Going to keep trying to post, though, and will try and figure out what I want to share here. Probably just pictures, etc., but hopefully something provocative enough to get some return visits and comments by the family.

So keep checking back…

Another Great Fight

Couple of updates on the fights, both this weekend and last weekend. Last weekend saw Allan “Ghost Dog” Green demolish Carlos DeLeon, Jr in two rounds on Showtime. Keep an eye on him, as he’s a Tulsa native. I used to have a picture of him and Lennon together after a fight in Miami, OK, but it was on my cell phone and I can’t find the picture anymore. Still have the autograph though…seen him a couple of times out here. We also got a chance to shake hands and exchange Christmas greetings in the Woodland Hills mall a few months ago. Also in local boxing news, Michael Woods finally picked up on a prospect out here: The Comanche Boy, George Tahdooahnippah (pronounced Tadernapper).

This weekend, Manny Pacquiao continues to do what only he seems to be able to do, which is take on the best fighters in and around his weight class. He’s fighting Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton, from Manchester, England. THis is going to be a great fight, but I’m calling Pacquiao again for this one. Right now the book on Pacquiao is -295, and +250 for Hatton. The weigh in is today, so it might change a little bit, but there’s no doubt that Pacman is the betting favorite. Pacquiao is also number 80 on Time Magazine’s Most Influential People list. He’s on his way to being a true superstar. Always worth watching, as he is something to see in the ring.

The Headline is Funnier than the Article

ugh…susan boyle. Can’t believe I’m even posting on it, but this headline was pretty funny, I think.

Talented Ugly Person Baffles World

Bob The Snowman

Our first….

A Step Towards Understanding

I haven’t listened to regular radio for almost 3 years now, so I don’t know much about the musical landscape being painted there. However, as I remember it and experience it in other ways (TV, some of the SiriusXM stations, etc), the bulk of music being peddled today is pretty much shit.

This article by John Mellencamp gives some insight into part of the problem.

“Record companies soon discovered that because of BDS, they only needed to concentrate on about 12 radio stations; there was no longer a business rationale for working secondary markets that were soon forgotten — despite the fact that these were the very places where rock and roll was born and thrived. Why pay attention to Louisville — worth a comparatively few potential listeners — when the same one spin in New York, Los Angeles or Atlanta, etc., was worth so many more potential listeners? All of a sudden there were #1 records that few of us had ever heard of. At the time we asked ourselves, “Am I out of touch?” We didn’t realize that this was the start of change that would grow to kill, if not the whole of the music business, then most certainly, the record companies.”

Speaking of Pacquiao

This is the first time I can remember that a boxer has made this list. Of course, he’s just a finalist until the voting is over, but he’s ranked number 10 so far, ahead of Barack Obama and Miley Cyrus.

Number one is “moot” – don’t know what that means.

Because you asked, Tommy…

A brief update on Nikki, the counselor. Most of the staff have gone to OKC to see her. Ann, Larry, and Kelley (all of whom you see in the video) went to see her last weekend, and she was able to focus her eyes on them, and even teared up a little while they were there. However, she was essentially immobile and couldn’t talk. At the time, there was no prognosis. Unfortunately, she has not gotten any better, and it seems she has gotten worse. Her family agreed to have her taken off the respirator last week and, accompanied by some sad assumptions, made funeral plans for Wednesday. However, she continues to breath on her own, enough so that the doctors are going to do the surgery on her feet, which were badly burned in the fire.

I’m now faced with a very difficult situation, which is how long to carry her as an employee so that she continues to be insured. Without question, her family is unable to cover the COBRA, despite the new changes under the stimulus plan. Of course, I know what I have to do, but it’s not going to be easy….

In Case You Missed It….

…which is a virtual certainty, Roy Jones Jr., fought as the main event this past weekend on a card which also included a handful of MMA fights. It was actually a very good show, and RJ had a good showing, albeit against a handpicked opponent. After the last fight with Joe Calzaghe, there’s very little chance he will ever make waves in the super-middleweight or light heavyweight divisions again, but he’s still my favorite and I can’t help enjoying his fights.

The result was a 5th round TKO (his first knockout since 2002), and a capture of the NABO belt. Not bad for “Old Bones Jones.”

Tommy’s Two Words (squared):
May 2nd will see the return of Manny Pacquiao, who continues to do what almost no other fighter in any division will do, which is fight only the top ranked fighters within a reasonable weight class. This time, it’s Ricky Hatton. I’ll provide the background on this one, and my pick (which will be Pacquiao), prior to the fight. The upshot is, though, that when Pacquiao wins this one, he will be set up to fight the un-retiring Floyd Mayweather, which will be, without question, the biggest fight of the decade. I’m already looking forward to that one.

The Birthday Parties

We had all three birthday parties on the same day, which was a week ago Saturday. I’ve got a handful of pictures on The Big Bash page, so you can see some of the goings on. All in all, a big success, and I’m quite impressed with myself and Ann for pulling it off. When you get right down to it, though, it was really just one big party with three cakes. We had the jumper in the backyard, which I highly recommend for birthdays, special occasions, and general babysitting.

Some perspective

This quote from Henry Kissinger (who would know), which I came across only this morning, will probably inform my opinions of the “best and brightest” for quite a while.

“High office teaches decision making, not substance. It consumes intellectual capital; it does not create it. Most high officials leave office with the perceptions and insights with which they entered; they learn how to make decisions but not what decisions to make.”

Eddie Van Halen Shreds

I don’t know exactly why, but this is funny as hell to me.

And finally…

Gabrielle’s birthday was on Thursday. She got a princess dress, a Rock Star barbie, and princess jewelry.

Here’s a picture of her in the Princess dress from Mom and Dad. Good call on that one…

Also, Mama went to her school at lunchtime and gave out cupcakes. This is a picture of Gabrielle with her friends at school. Oddly enough, there are no girls and, if I’m not mistaken, Atticus may have just viewed the Ringu video.

More birthdays!!

Lennon had his birthday on Wednesday. His big present inadvertently was a retainer that is going to stretch his palatte (is that spelled right??). He got spacers last week, and the retainer this week, and in a couple more weeks will be getting braces. Yahooooooo

More traditionally, he got a MarioKart from Mom and Dad, which is great. Here is a picture describing the enjoyment he derives from watching Gabrielle totally hijack his present.

He also got a new cell phone and related accessories.

Update re: Employee

The video below is a follow up on Nikki Cain, who was a counselor at our facility in Tulsa. Interviewees include Ann…Larry French is the program director at the facility and Kelley Wells is one of the nurses.

Tulsa Meth Lab Fire Victim A Drug Counselor

A Dreary Day

The story tells it all, and the audio of the 911 call is very difficult to listen to. The woman on the phone, Nikki, is one of our counselors at the clinic in Tulsa. A wonderful person and humble to a fault. She deserved better than this. She has not been revived since the initial rescue, and it was necessary to restore breathing and pulse at the time. As of this evening, she isn’t doing well: still in a coma, and has developed decorticate posture.

The morning of the fire, she didn’t show up for work, so one of our nurses called to check up on her. The apartment manager told her what happened, but at the time nobody knew Nikki’s name (we open at 5am, less than an hour after all this happened). She had been taken to the hospital as “Jane Doe” because, of course, all of her ID and everything were burned up in the fire. Our nurse and a social worker with the facility went to the hospital and gave the information and they were able to notify the family.

Dreary days…everyone is taking this very hard.

RIP John Cephas

John Cephas died on March 6th, in Virginia.

I go back with this guy a long way. Although some of the obits I read refer to him as a “master guitarist,” I would disagree. He definitely mastered the style of Piedmont Blues, and carried on the tradition of the Guitar/Harmonica combo, but technically he was limited to that style. Additionally, I think that, apart from the pairing of himself and Phil Wiggins (on harmonica) he would have toiled in relative obscurity. As it stands, together they created the best Piedmont Blues of the last quarter century, and deserve all the accolades that they received. Phil Wiggins, on the other hand, I would consider a master harmonica player.

R.I.P Bowling Green John Cephas.

This tune is from a concert in Maryland a couple years ago, and the link above has some video.

Cephas and Wiggins

Thompson’s Birthday

Happy Birthday to Thompson Alan Jamieson, one year old as of today.